LoveThatBass
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I build my own using Neutrik NL2FX connectors and 12 awg cable. What you posted looks great!
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Warning! Do Not Buy Cheap Speakon Cables
- Thread starter Keyser Soze
- Start date
I could barely get 14 AWG wire into the SpeakON terminals, & I'm sure A-GED-Horse will tell us 12 AWG is overkill.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,986
- 5
- 220,768
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- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Of course it’s overkill for a 5’ cable.
It’s hard to get 12 ga into an NL2, general 14 ga is plenty big and fits the terminals better ime.
I've been using the Neutrik China male RCA connectors for some time; I actually prefer them to Neutriks main product line RCA connectors which I find to be too bulky for some applications.
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As I understand it, Rean is a brand of Neutrik.
Rean - A brand of Neutrik AG - 3.5mm plugs, 1/4" plugs, 1/4" jacks, 1/4" adapters, RCA plugs, RCA adapters, S-video, DIN
I had the tip fall off the brass center pin it was supposed to be swedged onto, on a Neutrik Silent Switch right angle plug. When I contacted the Neutrik distributor about this, I was disappointed when they told me the warranty period since the purchase date was over, and they wouldn't warrant it.
Upon close examination, there wasn't any sign of galling on the center pin which would indicate it was properly swedged. I believe this was a flaw in manufacturing.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
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- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
If you mean the old NL2 ones that you pull the collar back on to release, I still have a few and kind of tend to prefer those in my own compact rigs due to being able to release them by feel from any angle without having to look around the back of the amp and cab during teardown. But they are harder to assemble for sure, and IME you do have to double check to make sure they're fully engaged since the collar can get tweaked fairly easily. I don't think too many people share my enthusiasm for them though.
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The one with the locking ring or collar that has to be turned is the original NL series, before they modified the design. They work fine, but I found they confused many people. The concept is similar to the present day ones, in that you inserted the plug and then gave it a quarter-turn; then you had to rotate the locking collar to firmly lock it into place. The big user problem was they wouldn't go in fully and turn if the locking collar was already in the locked position (or even partially so), which could happen while being transported or stored. It really wasn't all that complicated, but inexperienced users like stage hands always seemed to be buffaloed by them. Changing to the slide-latch locking mechanism was the best thing that ever happened to that connector.
BTW, @Jim C -- you can change out just the outer shell of that old-style connector for a newer one without having to replace the inner (connector) part of the assembly. So no actual re-wiring. I changed out a bunch over time by salvaging the outer part from newer connectors that had failed.
BTW, @Jim C -- you can change out just the outer shell of that old-style connector for a newer one without having to replace the inner (connector) part of the assembly. So no actual re-wiring. I changed out a bunch over time by salvaging the outer part from newer connectors that had failed.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,064
- 45,975
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
The ones I have don't have a rotating collar, it just moves axially and then you rotate the whole connector body. But it still definitely confuses people.
Now I'm wondering if I have one or two of those. Does the "locking" click several times? I thought the connector just wasn't tightened all the way.
EDIT: Double checked and it was just a loose collar.
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Yeah, that's a different connector, and AFAIK, was only ever used in the NL-2 connectors. Even more confusing than how to unplug those connectors is how to get them apart to service a loose terminal.The ones I have don't have a rotating collar, it just moves axially and then you rotate the whole connector body. But it still definitely confuses people.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,064
- 45,975
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Yep, the first time you encounter that is a "really?" type of moment for sure.
If you mean the old NL2 ones that you pull the collar back on to release, I still have a few and kind of tend to prefer those in my own compact rigs due to being able to release them by feel from any angle without having to look around the back of the amp and cab during teardown. But they are harder to assemble for sure, and IME you do have to double check to make sure they're fully engaged since the collar can get tweaked fairly easily. I don't think too many people share my enthusiasm for them though.
Good to know, as I have both
Bought a box, more like a trunk of cables from a guy getting out of the sound business a few years back.
I paid $50. A lot of stuff new still in packaging. Wife didn't get it at first until I grabbed just two packs
and showed her on the interwebs that those two packs were $60. In the pile were a bunch of Neutrik SpeakOn speaker cables of various lengths, as well as ProCo, Hosa, some Rean, and the usual Guitar Center stuff.
It's been a while since I had to mess with those, but I don't think they clicked when the ring was fully rotated to lock. The devilish thing was, if the locking ring wasn't tightened, the connector was intermittent and mostly didn't work -- a real problem if you're setting up a monitor system with a dozen or so bi-amped monitors with stage hands who don't necessarily understand how the connector works running the cables. I can't even say how many times that proved to be a problem -- that's why I was so glad when they upgraded that connector.
If they had never updated that connector, eventually the knowledge required would have become sufficiently disseminated that even the Gomer-est hand would know how to use it. It would, in fact, become part of that vast body of highly specialized and secret lore that makes it worthwhile to hire a 'stage hand' as opposed to just grabbing a guy from out in front of the Home Depot. 
Over a period of 63 years, I have noticed that in the vast majority of instances, cheap=more expensive and quality=less cost.
If had a cable that would not let go of a device I cared about, I would start the removal process with a 4" pneumatic cutting wheel. The offending cable would be violently destroyed in a spray of sparks. I might bring my other cables out to watch...so that they understand what happens to bad cables.
If had a cable that would not let go of a device I cared about, I would start the removal process with a 4" pneumatic cutting wheel. The offending cable would be violently destroyed in a spray of sparks. I might bring my other cables out to watch...so that they understand what happens to bad cables.
It's not their fault that they're cheap pieces of junk! They didn't ask to be born! Stop traumatizing them!
For the record, this is the one I was talking about.
